The European Commission fined Chinese online marketplace AliExpress 550 million euros, equivalent to about $629 million, on Monday for failing to stop the sale of unsafe and counterfeit products on its platform. The penalty is the largest ever handed down under the European Union's Digital Services Act.
The fine surpasses the 200 million euro penalty issued against online retailer Temu earlier this year for similar violations. Last year, Brussels imposed a $120 million penalty on Elon Musk's social media platform X.
Henna Virkkunen, the commission's executive vice-president for tech sovereignty, security and democracy, said in a statement: "The spread of counterfeit clothing, unsafe toys, dangerous cosmetics and other illegal and harmful products is not an unavoidable cost of shopping online — it is a failure by AliExpress to comply with its obligations under the Digital Services Act."
She added: "Scale is not an excuse; risks must be identified and addressed systematically to ensure consumers can safely shop online. Today, we are holding AliExpress to this standard and request it to take action."
According to the Associated Press, AliExpress said the company "has been, and continues to be, firmly committed to meeting our obligations and we have invested substantial resources in risk assessment and mitigation, product safety and consumer protection." It said it disagreed with the "disproportionate fine, which does not adequately reflect our established framework and the significant, proactive enhancements we have made."
The fine covers conduct by the company through at least June 2025, when the commission issued a preliminary ruling finding that AliExpress was not doing enough under the DSA. At that point, the company accepted commitments to improve its systems.
AliExpress now has until October 20 to submit an action plan detailing steps to correct its failures. The Digital Services Act is designed to keep users safe online and prevent the spread of harmful or illegal content, while also protecting privacy and free speech rights.
Monday's announcement came less than three weeks after AliExpress's parent company, Chinese tech giant Alibaba, agreed to pay $600 million to resolve a dispute with the U.S. government over allegations that the Hangzhou-based firm sold and imported illegal pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, regulated chemicals and pill-making equipment.
